- Armstrong has proven to be a controversial choice as new co-lead singer
- Chester Bennington’s family have hit out at Mike Shinoda over his handling of the situation
- Shinoda has responded to detractors in new interview
After weeks of backlash surrounding the decision to appoint Dead Sara front woman Emily Armstrong as their new co-lead singer, Linkin Park have moved to ease concerns around the hire, with Armstrong’s fellow singer Mike Shinoda explaining the idea is nothing to do with replacing the late Chester Bennington, who sadly took his own life in 2017.
Armstrong’s appointment drew the ire of many when it was announced earlier this month, with the Dead Sara singer being castigated for her previous support of convicted rapist Danny Masterson and her connections to the Church of Scientology. Bennington’s son Jaime posting a lengthy Instagram story about his father’s treatment from Shinoda, saying,“You have betrayed the trust loaned to you by decades of fans and supporting human beings including myself.
“We trusted you to be the bigger better person. To be the change. Because you promised us that was your intention. Now you’re just senile and tone deaf. Insane. At this point, I would wager that all you LP guys know is disrespect. You didn’t trick me!!”
Bennington’s mother, Susan Eubanks, also had her say on the matter, writing a letter on the Armstrong appointment that was then published in Rolling Stone.
“I feel betrayed. They told me that if they were ever going to do something, they would let me know. They didn’t let me know, and they probably knew that I [wasn’t] going to be very happy. I’m very upset about it.”
While on tour in the UK to promote new album From Zero, which drops in November, Shinoda stopped by BBC Radio One to chat with Jack Saunders to explain the decision to bring Armstrong on board after not releasing any new music in the seven years since Bennington’s untimely death.
“This is intended to be a new chapter of Linkin Park,” the 47-year-old said.
“The old chapter was a great chapter and we loved that chapter. It ran its course and now we were faced with a challenge of: ‘Well OK, if you start from scratch with another voice, what do you do?”
“We were just slowly coming together and then eventually things just started to fall into place with Emily and with Colin our new drummer.”
The new drummer in question is Colin Brittain, who has written and produced for such acts as Papa Roach, 5 Seconds of Summer and Dashboard Confessional.
